Death threat to Scindia, stones thrown at Shivraj: How elections are in danger in MP
It's poll season in Madhya Pradesh and along with sops, it is raining stones and slippers across the state.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's bus was attacked with stones and black flags were shown in Churhat area on September 2, while he was undertaking his Jan Ashirwad Yatra, covering all constituencies of the state. A slipper was also thrown at him while he was addressing a rally in Sidhi, around 25 kms from Churhat.
Churhat, around 540 kms from Bhopal, is the assembly constituency of MP Congress Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh.
The window of a bus was broken but Shivraj was not hurt in the incident. Addressing a public meeting in the area, he pinned the blame on Ajay Singh and dared him to come out and fight him in the open, "I am physically weak but I won't be bogged down by your deeds. The people of the state are with me," the Chief Minister said. The latter denied the charges, accusing the BJP of running a smear campaign against the Congress.
Nine suspected Congress workers have been arrested for the attack.
Earlier, a BJP legislator's son was arrested for threatening to shoot dead Jyotiraditya Scindia. Princedeep Khatik wrote a Facebook post, reportedly threatening to shoot Scindia if he visited Hata, the constituency his mother, Umadevi Khatik, represents in the assembly.
Madhya Pradesh, set to go to election by the end of the year, is seeing a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress. As dates close in, both the political parties are leaving no opportunities to take on their opponents.
Earlier, a video was posted on the YouTube channel Beyondust Digital Studio, showing Shivraj as Bahubali defeating Scindia. Expectedly, the video went viral, forcing Congress supporters to hit back and come out with their own version, featuring none other than Marvel's Hulk. Kamal Nath as Hulk is seen beating up Chouhan.
While both parties have officially denied their role in the spoof videos, their social media handles and Whatsapp groups are busy making them viral.
The Congress, which has been in the political wilderness for the last 15 years in the state, has taken a leaf out of the BJP's social media strategy. Scindia, who is the Madhya Pradesh Congress campaign committee in charge, is leading the Congress in its aim of dethroning the three-time CM Chouhan.The grand old party has issued directives to ticket aspirants to have active Twitter and Facebook accounts. They are also required to be members of their constituencies' Whatsapp group and repost and retweet the party's posts.
The state infamous for the Vyapam scam, where 40 people including several witnesses, accused, as well as a journalist, lost their lives, is now seeing its leaders coming under attack. From taking pot shots at press conferences and social media, the vitriol being peddled on social media seems to have finally spilled out onto the streets.